The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-10-07
NANCY.
Eank Ghormley's Daughter-An
Humble Yet Noble Girl.
Days.
PART 1.


Humble Yet Noble Girl.
PART L
The July sun beat mercilessly upon
the rocky summit of Old Foggy as two
solitary travellers mounted the dusty.
yellow road on the two sides of the
hill, each looking up and urging his
sweating horse to the shade of wild
cherry tree upon the summit. The one
from the eastern side reached the sum-
NIT and gslloped to the shade just as
the other equestrian reached the level
space and turned toward the tree. The
two riders glanced at each other care
lessly, then with a look of surprised
recognition.
John Jordan! sure as death. Why.
hello, old fellow!' and the other re-
sponded to the hearty handclasp with:
-'Can it possibly be you, Haywarda"
II believe so; sort of revised edition
of me, leather bound. without any sill
yer clasps" The two young men
slipped from their horses and sat down
upon the parched grass under the tree,
tanning their flushed faces with their
straw hats.
swell, Jordan, what in the name of
all that is holy are you doing on the
top of this God-forsaken hill. Rum
ming from the sheriff.
mo, my business here is probably
as legitimate as any that brings you to
the same place. have finished my
course at the Theological Seminary
and have been appointed to this circuit
since L left college. l am going to one
of my churches now, where 1 hold
services tomorrow.
s.Oh. shades of the mighty! how are
we fallen from our ideals! am stalk
ing out an air line for branch road to
the river. Be some cutting through
these hills, won't there? My force went
on last night to Rocky Fork; that's the
name. isn't it? and I am going down to
spend the Sabbath with them. Am
getting hungry. We couldn't find a
boarding house in these virgin forests,
and have had to camp. We were all
cooks. but for various reasons we've
lived chiefly on bacon and watermelon.
and pine for change-the flesh-potS
you know, and things that are made
with ice. Being clergyman you
probably pick chicken wing occa-
sionally, but hen-roosts are not an elc-
ment of barbarism. Well. how goes
preaching. old boy; how is your crop
doing, if that's what you call it? Your
souls, 1 mean; do they thrive unde,
your farming?'
A panied expression crossed Jordan
sensitive face. He hesitated. Hay.
ward saw it. and bit his under lip
with annoyance. He was continually
reproaching himself for wounding Jor-
dan in his old college days
'.No, Tom, to be frank. am some
what discouraged over my work. /
don't seem to get at my people. an
trying to study them as never studied
Homer and Quintillian in the old times
and feel sure that when put myself
fully in sympathy with them that car
influence them greatly. They need it
You can not imagine what field there
is before me here, if l am only worthy
to fill it."
Hayward glanced at his friend a.
kindly as he might have done at hur
child.
''Old fellow" he said. cautiously;
'you're mistaken. You'd laugh al
any body who would come down here
and buy hundred acres of this land
fora farm, and try to cultivate it
Why the crows weep over it; look a,
those hemlocks, and the blackberry
bushes trying to find hold for thei,
roots; look at that patch of stunted
corn over there. and those bony crag.
sticking through the soil. You can't
grow souls on such soil. They're moi
here; no wonder you're wearing your.
self out trying. Give it up and come
into little better region"
Jordan looked over the wide view
spread before them and the p.ined
look returned. ''Soul is not product
of the soil. Tom. You always were adj
vancing some strange idea. OF course
the difficulty of living there. the pow
erty and isolation. make the people less
intelligent. but they are immortal Just
the same" Hayward smiled. John
Jordan" he exclaimed. .'tell me hon.
estly, ii, in all the churches in your
circuit there is one soul" The young
minister hesitated. I'm the intellec-
tual sense that you mean, there is not
that is, can not now recall one!''
$50 l thought Now. if you viii ex-
cuse me for mentioning it one of my
chainmen Is going home, and you will
do more good to society, yourself and
the Lord if you will take his place and
help US build railroad that will open
up the country and cultivate souls a
thousand times faster than the present
way. Now. my dear boy. you're pound
ing away at a flint hill and when
you're worn out you will have only
pieces Of flint for your labor"